The young and the hopeless in Bangladesh's camps

With few prospects for their future, Rohingya youth like these in Bangladesh's Leda makeshift site may start to look for hope elsewhere.

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, January 23 (UNHCR) – For 20 years, they have been given food, water, shelter, health care. But the thing they need most – hope – has proven elusive. And according to the refugee youth in this area bordering western Myanmar, the future is growing dimmer by the day.

Hasan Sharif's family fled Myanmar's Rakhine state in the early 1990s, eventually settling in Kutupalong, one of two government-run refugee camps in south-eastern Bangladesh.

"My parents said that in Myanmar, there is no freedom, no legal movement anywhere," said 16-year-old Hasan. "They felt persecuted as Rohingya and thought that if they stayed, their family and children's future would be damaged. That's when they came to Bangladesh."

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in Rakhine state are stateless because they are not considered to be citizens under Myanmar's nationality law. Before the inter-communal violence of June and October last year, there had been two large-scale exoduses from Myanmar to Bangladesh, in 1978 and 1991-2. Although large numbers returned, the Rohingya continued to face forced labour as well as restrictions on their freedom of movement and the right to marry.

Hasan was born in exile. In fact, nearly three-quarters of the camps' population – over 70 per cent of 30,000 registered refugees – were either born in Bangladesh or arrived when they were under 10 years old. Few have a clear idea of home, often relying on stories told by their elders.

Their reality involves regular distributions of food, clothing and household supplies in the camps. They know that they will get basic water, sanitation and health services. They can study up to Grade 5 in the 21 primary schools in the two camps.

"The registered refugees have everything they need to survive," said Dirk Hebecker, who heads UNHCR's office in Cox's Bazar. "But there is no future and no way to participate in the development of society. We are advocating with the authorities to create more opportunities for them."

Mohammed Islam arrived in Bangladesh when he was seven. Twenty years later, he is the chairman of the camp management committee in Nayapara camp. "I'm worried about the next generation," he said. "The main problem here is that we're deprived of higher education. Education is the breadbasket of a nation, it's necessary for all of society."

The UN refugee agency is unable to provide secondary education in the camps. Local secondary schools outside the camps do not officially admit refugee children, though a few have managed to gain admission informally.

"There are more and more boys like me in the camp," said Hasan. "They don't have anything. They want to get a secondary certificate. They hope to be engineers, pilots, sailors. But if they don't get an opportunity for some education outside of the camp, how can they improve their life?"

Unlike the other boys, Hasan is one step closer to his dream. The aspiring computer engineer is currently working as a trainer in UNHCR's computer centre in Kutupalong camp.

However, the way forward is unclear. The recent outbreak of inter-communal violence in Rakhine state has dashed hopes of voluntary repatriation in the near future. Life in Bangladesh seems unlikely to go beyond survival mode.

Resettlement to a third country has been suspended since late 2010 and the statelessness of the Rohingya, which is the root cause of the waves of displacement, remains unresolved.

Mohammed Islam is also at a loss. "We love our country, it's in our hearts. We want to return, but the situation compels us to stay in Bangladesh," he said. "I want my home. I don't want peace for myself, I want it for my community. I want to be alive with my people."

In addition to the 30,000 registered refugees in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps, there are an estimated 200,000 undocumented Rohingya living outside the camps with little access to humanitarian assistance.

UNHCR country pages

Myanmar IDPs pick up the pieces in Rakhine state

A humanitarian crisis is unfolding across Myanmar's Rakhine state, where some 115,000 people are desperately in need of aid after being displaced during two waves of inter-communal violence in June and October 2012. The displaced, most of them ethnic Rohingya, have sought shelter in temporary relief camps and others remain scattered across the state, living under tight security in their destroyed villages. Conditions are harsh: the camps are overcrowded and some lack even the most basic of sanitation facilities while many of the villages are totally destroyed and running low on water. In one village, more than 32 families were living cheek-by-jowl in just two large tents. The children have no access to education and the newborn and elderly are in a very vulnerable position due to a lack of medical facilities. UNHCR is distributing relief supplies and working with the authorities and partners to improve camp conditions, but international assistance is required.

Myanmar IDPs pick up the pieces in Rakhine state

Living Silence: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

"Living Silence" is a photographic exhibition of one of the world's most enduring refugee crises, by award-winning photographer Saiful Huq Omi.

Bangladesh has hosted refugees for over three decades. Today, 28,000 refugees from Myanmar known as the Rohingya - an ethnic, religious and linguistic minority people - are living in the two official refugee camps in the south-east of Bangladesh. Over half of them are children, many of whom have only ever experienced life in the camps. It is estimated that there are a further 200,000 Rohingya living outside the camps, unable to return to Myanmar where they fear persecution and exploitation.

Like refugees around the world, the Rohingya refugees are survivors. They are living in transience, waiting for the day they can go home in safety and in dignity. Until then, like any other people, they aspire to live a life free from violence and exploitation.

Together with other UN agencies and NGOs, UNHCR provides shelter, water, primary education and health care to refugees from Myanmar in the Nayapara and Kutupalong camps. UNHCR is also working with governments around the world to resettle some of the most vulnerable.

Living Silence: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Climate change and displacement

In the past few years, millions of people have been displaced by natural disasters, most of which are considered to be the direct result of climate change. Sudden weather events, such as Myanmar's Cyclone Nargis in 2008, widespread flooding in Kenya's Dadaab refugee camps in 2006 and the drought that hit Ethiopia in the 1980s, can leave huge numbers of people traumatized and without access to shelter, clean water and basic supplies.

The international community has entrusted UNHCR with responsibility for protecting and assisting people who are forcibly displaced and who cannot return safely home. Although the majority of people displaced by climate change will remain within their own borders, where states have clearly defined responsibilities, additional support may be required.

When called upon to intervene, UNHCR can deploy emergency teams and provide concrete support in terms of registration, documentation, family reunification and the provision of shelter, basic hygiene and nutrition.

Among those who are displaced across borders as a result of climate change, some will be refugees while others may not meet the definition. Nevertheless, many may be in need of protection and assistance.

Climate change and displacement

Displaced women sew up a future in Kachin camp

Conflict in Myanmar's Kachin state has displaced tens of thousands. In the town of Laiza, UNHCR is helping women in Hpun Lum Yang camp to learn tailoring skills as part of a pilot project to foster cohesion among IDP women in the camp and help them find solutions for the practical problems they and their community face.

Myanmar: Olympic Spirit Alive

The International Olympic Committee and Samsung recently presented sports kits to 20 schools in south-east Myanmar. The lucky children were happy to show off their skills.

Bangladesh: Rohingya Refugees

Living in limbo for years has pushed some Rohingyas to risk everything in search of a better life.